a brief history of the 6th marines pcn 19000310000 1 brief history of... · rine corps closely...

COVER: British Prime Minister Winston S .Churchill reviews the 6th Marines, th enucleus of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigadein Iceland in July 1941, as Marines replace dBritish occupation troops. Churchill later re -membered that "there was a long march pas tin threes, during which the tune UnitedStates Marines bit so deeply into my memorythat I could not get it out of my head"

A BRIEF HISTORY OFTHE 6TH MARINES

byLieutenant General William K. Jones

U.S . Marine Corps (Retired )

HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISIO NHEADQUARTERS, U.S. MARINE CORP S

WASHINGTON, D .C .

1987

Other Volumes in the Marine CorpsRegimental Histories Serie s

A Brief History of the 1st Mariner, 1960, rev. eds . 1962, 196 8

A Brief History of the 2d Marines, 1961, rev. eds . 1962, 196 9

A Brief History of the 3d Marines, 1961, rev. ed . 196 8

A Brief History of the 4th Marines, 197 0

A Brief History ofthe 5th Marines, 1963, rev. ed . 1968 (now undergo -ing further revision )



A Brief History of the 9th Marines, 1961, rev, eds . 1963, 196 7

A Brief History of the loth Marines, 198 1



A Brief History of the 14th Marines, now in preparation

A Brief History of the 23d Marines, scheduled for preparation

A Brief History of the 24th Marines, now in preparation


USMC PCN 190 003100 00

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U .S . Government Printing OfficeWashington, D .C. 20402

Foreword

This historical monograph is the 13th in a series of 1 .6 regimental histories .. When com -pleted, the series will cover in similar fashion each of the infantry and artillery regiment sin the Fleet Marine Forces, active and reserve . The present narrative not only sets forththe significant actions of the 6th Marines, but also provides a general history of the Ma-rine Corps activities in peace and war in which the regiment participated .

The author of this monograph, Lieutenant General William K . Jones,. USMC (Retired), .is exceptionally well qualified to write a history of the 6th Marines . General Jones, bornin Joplin, Missouri, on 23 October 1916, received his A .B. degree from the Universityof Kansas in 1937 . While at the university, he attended summer training courses in . thePlatoon Leaders' Class at San Diego, California . He accepted a Marine Reserve commis-sion as a second lieutenant on 31 January 1938, entered active duty on 29 Septembe r1939, and integrated. into the regular Marine Corps in November 1940 .

Upon his initial entry on active duty, he completed an abbreviated Reserve Officers 'Course at Quantico„ Virginia, before joining the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines at San Die-go . He remained in that battalion for almost six years . In. the process, he participatedin the expedition to Iceland in 1941, saw combat on Guadalcanal, and commanded th ebattalion at Tarawa,. Saipan, and Tinian. On Tarawa, he earned a Silver Star Medal anda field promotion to lieutenant colonel (one of a handful given to Marine officers inWorld War II) .. For his actions on Saipan, he received a Navy Cross ..

Some of his key post-World War 11 assignments included command of the 1st Marine s(1953-54) ;, The Basic School (1956-58) ; the Recruit Training Regiment at Parris Island ,South Carolina (1958-60) ; the 3d Marine Division (1969-70) in Vietnam and Okinawa ;,and Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (1970-72) .. His personal decorations also include thre eawards of the Distinguished. Service Medal.,, the Legion of Merit„ the Bronze Star Medal,.and the Purple Heart ..

General Jones has been a prolific writer for many years . His "Baseplate McGurk" seriesof leadership articles in the Marine Corps Gazette has been widely read and reprinted .

He retired from active duty in 1972, and is at present the Vice President of the Marin eCorps Historical Foundation .

In the pursuit of accuracy and objectivity, the History and Museums Division welcome scomments on the history from key participants,, Marine Corps activities,, and intereste dindividuals ..

E . . H. SIMMON SBrigadier General, U .S .. Marine Corps (Retired )Director of Marine Corps History and Museum s

iii

Preface

The famous 6th Marine Regiment was 70 years old in mid-summer 1987 . This shor thistory attempts to outline some, not all, of the remarkable accomplishments of this unit .The lateness of publishing such an account is due neither to a lack of interest on th epart of the Marine Corps Historical Center nor insufficient effort by that organization .In fact, for several years a Washington-based Mobilization Training Unit (MTU) took o nthe project in an attempt to assemble available information . Unfortunately, the job ha dto be shunted from one reserve officer of the unit to another as events dictated . Thi sbecame evident to the author when he attempted to proofread a final draft submitte dby the MTU .

Having spent the first six years of my active duty, from second lieutenant to lieutenan tcolonel and battalion commander, in the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, I understandabl yhave a deep attachment to the regiment . From my personal observation during Worl dWar II, I realized no association of men anywhere enjoyed a prouder combat record tha nours . From my close association in the Marine Corps with respected leaders who wer eyoung Marines in World War I, I learned intimately about the founding of the heritag epassed on to us by them. From younger Marines of yesteryear and today, I learned thi sheritage continues on to this day. I am confident it will do so well into the future . Thisgreat tradition continues among Marines in peace as well as in war, whether on activ eduty or in retirement . As a Marine veteran once wrote, "Indeed, the ordeal of not forget-ting may well be the only heroism of the survivors ."

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to the distinguished members of the 6th Ma-rines, whether on active duty, retired, or in civilian life, who contributed to this history .A full list of contributors may be found in the appendices . However, my particular thank sgo to my editor, Dr. V. Keith Fleming, Jr ., for his contributions, advice, and encourage-ment . Other Marines who especially provided support were Sergeant Major Lewis L .Michelony, USMC (Retired) ; Colonel Loren E . Haffner, USMC (Retired) ; Colonel JamesA. Donovan, Jr., USMC (Retired) ; and Colonel Thomas D. Stouffer, USMC . However,as author I am responsible for the contents of the text, including opinions expressed an dany errors in fact .

To those members of the 6th Marines, dead, wounded, or remembering, this volumeis respectfully dedicated .

WILLIAM K . JONESLieutenant General

U.S . Marine Corps (Retired )

v

Table of Contents

Foreword iiiPreface vMaps xi

Chapter 1 The First World War—The Beginning 1Background 1Chateau-Thierry 5Belleau Wood 6Soissons 1 3St . Mihiel 1 5The Meuse-Argonne and Blanc Mont Ridge 1 5The Meuse-Argonne 1 6The March to the Rhine and the Occupation 1 8Marine Achievements 2 0Demobilization 2 1

Chapter 2 Between the World Wars 2 3Background 2 3China Duty 2 5Second China Duty 2 5

Chapter 3 Iceland 3 3Background . : 3 3Expeditionary Duty! 3 4The First Marine Brigade (Provisional) 3 6Arrival and Movement Ashore 3 7Camp Life 3 8The Days Wear On 40Assigned Priorities 4 1Assigned to a U.S . Army Command 4 3Pearl Harbor 4,6Heading Stateside 46

Chapter 4 Guadalcanal 4 8Background 4 8Preparing for Overseas Duty 48New Zealand 5 2The Baptism of Fire 5 4The Return to `The Land They Adored' 5 8McKay's Crossing 6 0

Chapter 5 Tarawa 6 4Background 6 4Off to the Gilberts 6 4Helen 6 6D-Day, 20 November 1943 6 7

vii

D Plus 1, 21 November 1943 6 9The 6th Marines Attack 7 0D Plus 2, 22 November 1943 7 1D Plus 3, 23 November 1943 7 3Mopping Up 7 6Apamama 7 6The 6th Marines Leave Tarawa 7 7Lessons Learned 7 8

Chapter 6 Saipan Tinian 7 9Background 7 9The Island of Hawaii 7 9Training for The Next One' 8 1The Marianas 8 3Shipping Out 8 5D-Day, 15 June 1944 8 7D Plus 1, 16 June 1944 9 1D Plus 2, 17 June 1944 9 2D Plus 3, 18 June 1944 9 4D Plus 4 to D Plus 6, 17-20 June 1944 9 4D Plus 7, 22 June 1944 9 5Mopping Up 10 0On to Tinian 10 1Lessons Learned 10 6

Chapter 7 What's Next? 1 0Background 10 7Camp Life, 1944-45 10 7Okinawa 11 3

Chapter 8 The Occupation 11 7Background 11 7The War Ends! 11 7The Occupation 11 8Just Marking Time 12 2Heading Home 12 4

Chapter 9 1945-1965 12 6Background 12 6Korea 12 6Rebuilding the 6th Marines 12 8Action in Lebanon 13 0Cuban Crisis 13 2The Quiet Time 13 2Dominican Crisis 13 2Lessons Learned 13 9

Chapter 10 1965-1985 14 0Background 14 0The Late 1960s 14 0The 1970s 14 3Conclusion 153

NOTES 15 5

APPENDICE SA . Commanding Officers 16 1B. Chronology 16 5C. Lineage 16 7D. Honors 16 9E. Medals of Honor 17 1F. Contributors 17 5

INDEX 17 7

ix

Maps

Belleau Wood, 1-5 June 1918 7Guadalcanal and Florida Islands 5 3Intelligence Map, Bititu (Betio) Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands ,

Situation 1800 D-Day 6 5

Saipan 8 8Tinian 10 3Okinawa 11 2

Eastern Mediterranean 12 9

xi

CHAPTER 1

The First World War—The Beginning

Background— Chateau-Thierry — Belleau Wood— Soissons—St . MihielThe Meuse-Argonne and Blanc Mont Ridge—The Meuse-Argonn e

The March to the Rhine and the Occupation—Marine Achievements—Demobilizatio n

Background

So much has been written about World War I, andwritten so well by famous historians and novelists, italmost seems redundant, indeed presumptuous, t oplow this ground again . A history of the 6th Marineswould not be complete, nonetheless, without a re -count of the regiment's beginning and its exploits i nthe First World War . To cover this period, even if i na cursory way, seems mandatory .

Prior to and well into World War I the U .S . Ma-rine Corps closely followed the evolution of the Brit-ish Royal Marines . In the 19th century, Marines o fboth nations served on board naval vessels, as guard sof naval bases, and ashore in far-off lands on specia lassignments . Yet when World War I grew in feroci-ty, first the British and then the American Marineseach provided a brigade for combat service with aninfantry division in Europe as well as staff and com-mand personnel for Army units . They also provide dunits for isolated outposts not related directly to themain battle effort against Germany . '

To refresh memories, the war had been going o nfor three years before the United States became direct-ly involved on 6 April 1917 . 2 Before the war, an anx-ious Europe watched Germany conduct what Winsto nChurchill called a "twilight war ." By 1914 Britain ,France, and Russia realized diplomacy had failed . I nthe United States, it only gradually became apparen tthat this country would be drawn into the conflict i nEurope . Not until late summer of 1916, therefore, wasthe National Defense Act approved which finall yprovided substantial increases in the size of all of th emilitary and naval services . The act authorized the Ma-rine Corps to increase from 344 officers and 9,921 en -listed men to 597 officers and 14,981 enlisted . I tfurther authorized the President, in the event of a na-tional emergency, to increase the Corps to 693 officer sand 17,400 enlisted men . 3 Recruiting was very slow .By the end of 1916 the enlisted strength was up t oalmost 11,000 . No new officers were appointed unti lFebruary 1917 and then only 10 were selected . Whenthe United States entered the war the total Marin eCorps strength was 419 officers and a little more than13,000 enlisted men . 4

The main training center development was at Par -

ris Island, South Carolina. The Marine Corps had ,since 1915, maintained at an inactive naval station o nthe island a camp where it trained recruits from th eeastern part of the country. Those from the wester npart were trained at Mare Island, California s Now theCorps gradually acquired all of Parris Island — an are aof about 10 square miles exclusive of marsh and tid elands . There were many difficulties . The isolated areahad neither railway nor highway transportation . Aboutall of the necessary facilities for water transportatio nhad to be provided, including docks, barges, tugs, etc . ,to the nearest railroad terminal . Even the water fordrinking and washing had to be barged in since th esalty sea water so close to the surface of the island mad ewells impractical .

At first the recruits had to sleep under canvas . Fi-nally temporary buildings were erected . By 1916 Par-ris Island was a beehive of activity . A majorthoroughfare was cleared and later became known asthe Boulevard de France . A new rifle range was con-structed . A sand parade field was laid out and re-mained unpaved until 1943 . 6

A little over a month after the United Statesdeclared war on 6 April 1917 ; on 14 May, the MarineCorps leased 6,000 acres at Quantico, Virginia . On14 June 1917 the 5th Marines sailed for France an dfull attention could be focused on forming and train-ing the 6th Marines .

Recruiting new enlisted men proved to be noproblem after war was declared . An unusually highquality of men presented themselves for enlistment ,and many successful business and professional menwere among their number . The recruiting of ne wofficers proceeded more slowly . Many outstandin gmen from the enlisted ranks were promoted t oofficers, both at the beginning and during the war .Many made careers of the Corps after the war and be -came distinguished officers, some of whom evenreached the rank of four-star general .

Consequently, when the 6th Marines was organize don 11 July 1917 at Quantico, over half the Marines wer ecollege men, with a large number of athletes amongthem. Two thirds of one company came straight fromthe University of Minnesota— 300 students enlisted e nbloc, for example? Even though the new men wer erelatively inexperienced, there were plenty of noncom -

1

Photo courtesy of Mrs . Lathe W. Bennet

Two new Marines on liberty pose in khaki summer uni-forms during training on the 6,000 acres leased by th eCorps at Quantico, Virginia, beginning in May 1917 ,to prepare Marines for combat in World War I.

missioned officers and captains and above to provid ethe necessary leadership . Sergeant Major John H .Quick and First Sergeant Daniel Daly, both long -service veterans, already had won the Medal of Hono rduring earlier engagements . The regimental com-mander, Colonel Albertus E . Catlin, had earned hisMedal of Honor at Vera Cruz . He wrote the follow-ing: "If we had time and opportunity to pick men in-dividually from the whole of the United States, Idoubt whether we should have done much better .There were as fine a bunch of upstanding America nathletes as you can meet, and they had brains as wel las brawn" 8

According to First Class Private, later General, Ger -ald Cathrae Thomas, he and some friends enlistedamong the above-mentioned group . This surge ofpatriotic fervor that swept the nation took the youn gstudent from Illinois Wesleyan University first to Par-ris Island for recruit training . Then, he and othersmoved to Quantico, where he joined the 1st Battal-ion, 6th Marines Intelligence Section . His battalion

commander, Major John A . `Johnny the Hard "Hughes kept him busy. Years later while a colonel h eargued with friends formerly in the 5th or 6th Ma-rines who had been in France as to who had the tough -est commander. They must have all been "tough "considering what they accomplished in France. AtQuantico, Thomas was assigned to the Compan yOfficers Course . He didn't find it very useful later .

He recalled they went by train from Quantico t oPhiladelphia where they embarked . Trained and ready,the 6th Marines together with the 6th Machine Gu nBattalion arrived in France in late 1917 . Ships hadpiled up waiting to be unloaded . Instead of immedi-ately rushing to the front as they had expected, the yunloaded cargo when they finally docked . When the5th Marines arrived in France in mid-1917 they hadexpected to see action against the enemy in a shor ttime . Instead the only action they had seen was asworking parties unloading ships for the Army. Theywere disgusted . So with the arrival of the 6th Marine stheir hopes rose. In early 1918, the Marines wer ebrought together as the 4th Brigade (Marines), 2d U .S .

Second Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, who later becameCommandant of the Marine Corps, stands in front ofthe canvas tent which he used as quarters while i ntraining with the 6th Regiment at Quantico in 1917 .

C .B . Cates Papers, MCHC

2

C.B. Cates Papers, MCHC

These clusters of temporary wartime-construction, tarpaper-covered wooden building shouse Marine units undergoing combat training for service in France in World War I.

Division. Its 280 officers and 9,164 enlisted Marines Marines in training to fight in France line up outsideone of the crude temporary buildings erected at Quan-tico . Many American college students enlisted

made it a big brigade .9

On 17 March, the brigade went into the trenche ssoutheast of Verdun, under the tutelage of the French ,with well prepared trenches and other defensive posi-tions . They learned quickly the grim realities of trenc hwarfare—cooties, rats, "wire parties," raids, and poi -son gas . They made many patrols and raids — both da yand night . They also learned the difficulties of reliev-ing troops in front-line positions, how to coordinatethe fire of their weapons with supporting artillery fire ,and how to best deal with German raiding parties .Their brigade commander was Brigadier Genera lCharles A . Doyen, who had brought the 5th Marinesto France as a colonel earlier. Although the Verdundefensive deserves longer treatment than given abov edue not only to the discomfort encountered but als oto its length—March 17th to May 9th—space does no tpermit . Suffice to say the 4th Brigade suffered in tha ttime 128 killed and 744 wounded . One 6th Marine scompany, in mid-April in a reserve position, wa scaught in a German gas barrage and 40 men died .

General John J . Pershing, Commander of theAmerican Expeditionary Forces, was both demandin gand unforgiving with elderly, ill officers so when

Historical Collection MCH C

3

C .B. Cates Papers, MCHC

A group of Marines go through a gas mask drill outside World War I dugouts in France .

Men of a newly arrived unit, whose Marine Corps green wool uniforms and canvas leg-gings have not yet been replaced by Army olive drab and puttees, dress ranks in France .

Department of Defense (USMC) Photo 51492 4

4

phase lasted from 31 May to 5 June 1918 . It was amagnificient effort that had a tremendous psycholog-ical effect on the flagging morale of the French an dBritish, both their armies and their civilians . The endof this defensive action still did not include Hill 142 ,Bois de Belleau, Bouresches, or Vaux . 1 0

The French division commander in that secto rthought he still had some soldiers fighting in Bellea uWood west of Chateau-Thierry . He asked the Marine sto counterattack . A French colonel, however, advise dColonel Wendell Neville, commanding the 5th Ma-rines, to retreat. He is supposed to have roared :"Retreat, hell! We just got here!" Other American sold -iers and Marines subsequently claimed the quotation ,but Neville himself later attributed it to Captain Lloy dW. Williams, commanding the 51st Company, 2d Bat -talion, 5th Marines ."

A French aviator reported that he saw the Ameri-can lines falling back . The alarmed corps commande rinquired down through channels, so the brigade com -

Area of World War IRegimental Operation s

C .B . Cates Papers, MCHCPosing for a photograph which illustrates the condi-tions under which the 6th Regiment of Marines gaine dits first exposure to combat, 2dLt Clifton B. Catesstands in a trench near Verdun in April 1918 .

Doyen fell ill he was invalided back to the Unite dStates . An Army officer, Brigadier General James G .Harbord, took command of the brigade . He had bee nPershing's chief of staff.

Their familiarization period abruptly terminated .The first of the great German drives against th eWestern Front began in 1918 . Nothing seemed to sto pthem as they advanced . On 27 May 1918, Ludendorfflaunched his Chemin des Dames offensive with ove r50 divisions . It sliced the northern part of the Allies 'front in half. A four-kilometer gap opened, allowin gthe Germans to reach the Marne River at Chateau -Thierry, perilously close to Paris . There was utter con -fusion as the allies tried to reorganize their lines .

Several reserve divisions were rushed into the breac hincluding the 2d Division and its 4th Brigade o fMarines .

Chateau-Thierry

The 2d Division was deployed across the Chateau -Thierry-Paris road where it stopped the German ad-vance on Paris . This is called the Aisne defensive . This

place 2-5 June was a major victory for the allies . Theenemy did roll back the French outposts into the 2 dDivision lines . Both long-range rifle fire and machinegun fire by the Marines made the Germans halt thei roffense and shift to the tactical defense along thei rfront .

When Harbord took command of the 4th Brigade ,Pershing told him he was getting the best troops i nFrance and that if he failed Pershing would knowwhom to blame .13 Neither he nor the 4th Brigade eve r"failed" during their stay in France .

C .B . Cates Papers, MCH C

Marines peer out of the door of a French railroad ca rin May 1918. This is one of the famous "40 and 8 "cars designed to transport either 40 men or 8 horses.

mander asked Major Thomas Holcomb, who com-manded the 2d Battalion, 6th Marines . "When I d omy running," Holcomb answered, "It will be in theopposite direction ." 1 2

The stopping of the German advance that took

Belleau Wood

The Germans attacked again on the 4th and 5t hof June . They were unsuccessful . Finally the Germa noffensive halted and they dug defensive positions .Belleau Wood, in front of the Marines, was a one-square-mile, easily fortified area full of trees and boul-ders . Two battalions of the 461st Imperial Germa nInfantry, strongly supported by Maxim machine gun-ners, occupied this formidable natural fortress .

The trees were so densely planted visibility wa slimited except where an axe or shell had cleared a por-tion. Unlike American forests, Belleau Wood hadbeen cared for by a forester who cleared out the un-derbrush. Even though there was a lack of under -growth for cover, the high rocky ground was full o fgullies and crags in which the Germans could hide .Belleau Wood had once been a hunting preserve fo rthe Chateau of Belleau, which was about a half mil enorth of the wood .

The American attack began on the morning of 6

Three Marine riflemen talk quietly while resting amid the vegetation of Belleau Wood .C .B . Cates Papers, MCH C

6

June. The 1st Battalion, 5th Marines led the charge

"Here's where you and I part company, because we jus tacross wheat fields dotted with blood-red poppies . The

got across that place and that's the last thing I'm go -enemy machine gunners waited for the Marines to get

ing to do — go back" He kept going until he foundclose before opening fire on their neatly dressed

the remnants of another platoon to join . The platoonlines—offensive tactics still preached by the French

he joined was commanded by another sergeant, name dbut not practiced by them after they gained experience

Gay. As they started forward across the field, Gay wasearlier in the war . 14

hit in the back. Silverthorn bound the wound, which

When the Germans did open fire, casualties among

wasn't too bad, and told Gay to stay still and he woul dthe Americans were heavy. Retired Lieutenant General

come back for him after dark. He then took charg eMerwin H . Silverthorn, an unusually religious man,

of the platoon and they charged ahead in rushes . Theclaimed until his death in 1985 that it was during this

noise was awesome. Silverthorn was wounded in th eepisode that he suddenly became religious . His pia-

knee . He told the only man he had left, an automat -toon, close to the left flank of the 6th Marines line,

is rifleman, to move on into the woods where he waswas commanded by an Army lieutenant named Cop-

needed . Silverthorn said, "I'm going to stay out of

pinger. At the bottom of a ravine it was raked by ene-

sight where I am until it's dark and I can get out un -my machine gun fire . Coppinger and Silverthorn hid

der cover." He thought of his father who was wound -

behind a pile of wood . After five minutes, Coppinger

ed at Gettysburg, yet lived to be 96 .15 Nevertheless ,shouted "Follow me!" and ran over the top of the ra-

in spite of the noise, casualties, and confusion, th evine towards the Germans . He looked back and said

1st Battalion, 5th Marines, captured Hill 142, west ofin wonder, "Where the hell is my platoon?" He had

the woods, by noon and began to move into Belleaustarted with 52 men . Only six were left . He said to

Wood itself.Silverthorn, "I'm going back ." Silverthorn thought,

On the right, Major Berton W . Sibley's 3d Battal-

ion, 6th Marines, was doing better than Silverthorn ' sbattalion . There was no yell or rush, but a relentless ,steady attack . Although taking advantage of bette rcover, men were hit and fell ; closer and closer the ycame to the wood .

The 6th Marines' commander, Colonel Catlin, hur-ried to a small rise where he could watch the attac kthrough field glasses . He saw Sibley ' s Marines plung einto the wood . His French liaison officer begged hi mto find a safer place, but Catlin ignored the bullet sflying around him . One struck him in the chest . I tswung him around, knocking him to the ground . Hi sright side was paralyzed and he couldn't stand . Th eFrench liaison officer dragged the big man to a shelte rtrench . The bullet had gone through Catlin's lung ,but he never lost consciousness or experienced pain .Since the bleeding was internal, nothing could bedone for him until treatment arrived . He was neve rable to return to the front . 16 Lieutenant Colonel HarryLee took over command of the 6th Marines . He kep tit until demobilization in August 1919 .

The 2d and 3d Battalions of the 6th Marines ,together with the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, entered

the wood . War correspondent Floyd Gibbons heardGunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly of the 6th Marines yell ,"Come on, you sons of bitches . Do you want to liveforever? '" Two platoons of the 2d Battalion, 6th Ma-rines, one of them commanded by then-Lieutenan tClifton B. Cates (later the Nineteenth Commandan tof the Marine Corps) got into the village of Bouresches ,and experienced repeated counterattacks . When thei rammunition ran low, Sergeant Major John H . Quickbrought some more to the platoons in a Ford truck .For this, he received the Army's Distinguished Serv-ice Cross to add to the Medal of Honor he already hadreceived before World War I .

Since company designations in those days were listednumerically rather than alphabetically as they are now,it might be well to relate the two :

Sixth Marine s1st Bn 2d Bn 3d Bn

74th (A) Co 78th (E) Co 82d (I) C o75th (B) Co 79th (F) Co 83d (K) C o76th (C) Co 80th (G) Co 84th (L) C o95th (D) Co 96th (H) Co 97th (M) Co

This damaged private hunting lodge, a landmark for those Americans who fought i nBelleau Wood in World War I, stands near shell-scarred trees after the battles end.


8

C .B. Cates Papers, MCHCA dead German soldier in his position after the hotly contested battle for Belleau nod

Major Thomas Holcomb, later the SeventeenthCommandant of the Marine Corps, commanded the2d Battalion, 6th Marines, from August 1917 to Janu-ary 1919. At Belleau Wood he instructed Sergeant Do nV. Paradis of the 80th (G) Company to take a PrivateSlack across the wheat field, and find Major Sibley an dthe 1st Battalion, 5th Marines . He desired their maplocation and other information . Paradis, followed b ySlack, crossed the wheat field safely, and found Sibley."For God's sake," Sibley said, "tell Major Holcomb no tto take Captain Coffenberg and the 80th Companyaway from me! We've lost at least half of our battalion ."

"Come on, Slack, let's get back," Paradis said, bu tthe private was horrified : "You aren't going the sameway we came?" "It's the shortest route," thought Para-dis, as he headed back through the smoke alone .Wounded men kept calling for help . He found Hol-comb, gave him the message, and requested permis-sion to go back and help the wounded . Holcom brefused. He had more messages to be carried .

Lieutenant Cates, while leading his platoon acrossa wheat field towards Bouresches, had an enem ymachine gun bullet knock off his helmet. It alsoknocked him unconscious . When he came to, h ecouldn't put his helmet back on properly because ofa dent the size of a fist . Machine gun bullets were fly-ing all around . Men were falling all around him . "M yfirst thought was to run to the rear . I hate to admit

it but that was it," he said later . Seeing four Marine sin a ravine, he got to them and fell at their feet . Onetook off the dented helmet and poured wine from hi scanteen over the lump on Cate's head, "God damnit," the lieutenant growled, "don't pour that wine o nmy head, give me a drink of it ." It revived him. Hegrabbed a French rifle and led the Marines intoBouresches . 1 8

Lieutenant Cates was both gassed and wounded .For his heroism at Bouresches and in the BelleauWood fighting he received the Navy Cross, the Ar-my's Distinguished Service Cross, and an oak lea fcluster in lieu of a second Distinguished Servic eCross . 1 9

The Marines had almost no information on the Ger-mans' dispositions . The French had told them th ewood was lightly held . The artillery fire supportin gthe attack was ineffective . During the afternoon th ecasualties climbed . The brigade losses for the first da ywere 31 officers and 1,056 enlisted men killed, wound -ed, or missing 2 0

Floyd Gibbons' left eye was shot out . Rumors start-ed that he had been killed . Upon hearing them, theArmy censor, thinking him dead, wanted to do Gib -bons a last favor . He released Gibbons' previously-filedreport of the action in Belleau Wood . Gibbons' arti-cle named the Marine Brigade, going against the AEFchief censor's edict forbidding mention of the kin dof troops involved in any action . As a result, the fol -

9

lowing day's newspapers electrified the American pub -lic with Gibbons' colorful story of the fighting i nwhich he praised the exploits of the Marine Brigade .This caused considerable jealousy in Army units eve nthough nobody in the Marine Corps had anything todo with releasing the story .

On 7 June, preparations were made for resumin gthe attack . The Germans added fresh troops to thei rdefense in anticipation of renewed assaults . They stillheld most of Belleau Wood, in spite of the loss of th etown of Bouresches . American artillery shelled theenemy all night . At 0400 the 3d Battalion, 6th Ma-rines, one of the assaulting units on 6 July, attempt-ed to advance its lines to the north, but each positio nthey reached was flanked by German machine guns .The battalion finally withdrew even further to a ra-vine to allow friendly artillery to shell the enemy' sfront lines .

On 9 June, the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, mad ea limited attack on the southern part of the wood . I twas preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment. Ac-tually, these Marines only reached the enemy's mai nline of resistance, which had successfully stopped the3d Battalion, 6th Marines, three days before .

On 11 June, the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, with th e1st Battalion, 6th Marines, on its right, advanced t oa line across the narrow part of the wood which sepa -

rated the northern from the southern part. Their ad-vance was stopped after heavy losses . The German sstill held the larger northern part . The troops of th eGerman 28th Division, which had been driven fromthe southern part of the wood, lost nearly 800 men .Their counterattack against the Marines to retake th esouthern part failed early the following morning .

Within two days the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, an dthe 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, captured more tha n400 prisoners and 60 machine guns . A wounded cap-tured German officer reported that the German splanned to counterattack early on 13 June .

The counterblow occurred on schedule at 0400 . I twas preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment an dextended as far south as the village of Bouresches . Ex -cept for the village, which they almost recaptured, th eGerman infantry assault failed . The German artillerycontinued harassing fire throughout the day usinghigh explosive and mustard gas shells . The 1st Battal-ion, 6th Marines, in the southeastern section of th ewood, and in Bouresches particularly, had 45 0casualties .

The Marine Brigade had experienced severe losses ,its units were hopelessly mixed, and the men were ex -hausted from continuous heavy fighting . The enemy' sharassing artillery fire continued while the German sreinforced the small section of the northwest part o f

Survivors of Maj Thomas Holcomb''s 2d Battalion, 6th Marines, pause while enroute t oa rest area following the 20 days of intense fighting in Belleau Wood in June 1918 .

Department of Defense (USMC) Photo 493 8

10

C .B. Cates Papers, MCH C

A group of Marine officers in France in World War I, one of whom (right) has place dthe distinctive Marine Corps emblem on the front of his British-style steel helmet.

the wood still under their control . The German FourthReserve Corps, however, had also suffered heavy losses ,it's counterattack had failed, and they had been sur-prised by the determined Marines as fighting men .

During the gas attack and harassing artillery fire ,the 2d Battalion, 6th Marines, tried to relieve the 2 dBattalion, 5th Marines, but lost so many men fromthe gas they were unable to do so . The 2d Battalion ,5th Marines, refused to leave, so both battalionsdefended the eastern edge of the wood . LieutenantColonel Logan Feland took command of the thre ebattalions—the 1st and 2d Battalions, 6th Marines ,and the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines . He reorganized theposition and ensured a more sound defense of the area .

This was followed by a brief period when the 4thBrigade was out of the front lines . Its battalion sreceived 2,800 Marine replacements, reorganized, an dwere given all available equipment . During this peri-od the Marines were relieved by the 7th Infantry Di -vision . The front lines remained unchanged .

On the night of 22-23 June the 3d Battalion, 6t hMarines, took over the line along the eastern edge of

the wood, relieving the Army troops . A battalion ofthe 5th Marines was on each of it's flanks .

At 1700 on 25 June an American artillery barrag elasting four hours fell on the German lines . It cause dheavy casualties, demoralized the enemy, and prevent-ed him from reinforcing his positions . By 2130 tha tevening the Marines controlled the wood and brace dthemselves for the expected counterattack . It never

came .

On 26 June 1918 the American Expeditionary Forc eheadquarters received a message, "Belleau Wood now

U.S . Marine Corps' entirely ." Twenty days of intensefighting were over . The Marine's tenacious attacksearned them the nickname "Devil Dogs" from th eGermans .

The Marine Brigade had suffered almost 5,00 0casualties—about 55 percent of its strength . Thes ewere the heaviest losses experienced by any America nbrigade during a single offensive in World War I . Th e6th French Army issued an order on 30 June 1918 ,changing the name of the Bois de Belleau to the Boi s

11

American cemetery near Belleau

de la Brigade de Marine . The brigade received a cita-tion for gallantry signed by General Henri Petain*.

Now the site of an American cemetery, more than2,200 men lie buried in Belleau Wood, with 249 ofthem listed as unknown . The interior walls of th echapel, located near the center of the cemetery, ha sthe names of 1,060 men who were never recovered ,among whom are those listed as "unknown" and bu-ried in the cemetery .

Warrant Officer Arthur Martin, USA (Ret), groundssupervisor for the cemetery, says : "The Marines hadbeen considering the idea of advancing in smal lgroups, Indian style, instead of in line, as was com-mon in World War I trench warfare . . . .

"When the fighting began, the Marines switche dto what are now referred to as squad tactics . "2 1

The first fighting by the Marine Brigade in th eChateau-Thierry sector was a magnificent stubborndefense between 31 May and 5 June . The second phasewas the capture of Belleau Wood . Together they werelisted as a major operation called the Aisne Defensive .

During 31 days of intense fighting the 2d Divisio nas a whole suffered an estimated 1,811 battle deaths ,of which 1,062 were Marines, and 7,252 additiona lcasualties, of which 3,615 were Marines . It was tha tfighting and 9,063 American casualties that made th e

*French maps still use the name, Bois de Belleau ; however, amasonry marker at the entrance to the wood reads Bois de la Brigad ede Marine. Robert Sherrod, Fortitudine (Summer, 1980), p . 8 .

C .B . Cates Papers, MCH CWood, photographed in 1919 .

names Belleau Wood and Chateau-Thierry famous .2 2

After being relieved by another American divisionon 5-6 July 1918, the 4th Brigade moved to the reararea and took up defensive positions near Nanteuil-sur-Marne . It remained there until 16 July .

The Germans attacked the American line on 1 5July . It turned out this was their last offensive an dit failed . From that time on they were on th edefensive .2 3

It is well to pause here and mention a famous boo knamed Through the Wheat, a novel by Thomas Boyd .Boyd was born on 3 July 1888 in Defiance, Ohio . H eenlisted in the Marine Corps 26 May 1919, and even-tually ended up in the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines . Th ehero, a Private Hicks, is an ordinary young ma ntrapped by World War I . In recounting his own ex-periences through Private Hicks, Boyd created th earchetype of the modern warrior . He used such burn-ing, vivid strokes of realism that F. Scott Fitzgerald— aman impatient with bad writing—closed his reviewwith these words, "Through the Wheat is not only th ebest combatant story of the great war but also the bes twar book since The Red Badge of Courage." RetiredMarine General Gerald C. Thomas, who also partici-pated as a member of the 6th Marines in the battlefor Belleau Wood, considered the book to be the bestdescription of what the Marines experienced . Unfor-tunately the book has been out of print for some time .However, the Marine Corps Historical Center in th eWashington Navy Yard contains the first edition of

12

Boyd's book, which contains illustrations by Captai nJohn W. Thomason, Jr., another Marine who was als othere .

Soissons

General Harbord was appointed to the rank ofmajor general, and took command of the 2d Division .Colonel Neville had been evacuated to a base hospi-tal after leaving the Chateau-Thierry sector, butreturned in time to resume command of the 4t hBrigade for the forthcoming Aisne-Marne offensive .The Marine Brigade entered the front lines nearSoissons .

This was to be a major operation in 1918 on th eWestern Front . The 4th Brigade was hurriedly an dsecretly sent to the Soissons sector . The 5th Marine smoved by forced night marches through rain and mud .The roads were jammed with troops, artillery, an dtanks . Although fatigued, the Marines arrived in tim eto attack on the morning of 18 July. The 6th Marine swere transported by camions (trucks) with Vietnames edrivers, and remained in reserve the first day . It wasa glorious victory. Rather than the preliminary bom-bardment, massed American and French artillery, fir-ing by the map, laid down a rolling barrage, and th epicked American and French divisions charged . Theattack immediately broke through the most sensitiveportion of the German line to the heights south o fSoissons . The enemy infantry lines were overrun, a swas his artillery . His communications were interrupt -

ed . The end result was a general, although stubbornGerman withdrawal from the Marne in order to pre -vent disaster . Paris was saved . The attack continue dthe next day. The results of the two days' fighting wer e3,000 prisoners and 66 field guns . The tide of war wasturned definitely in favor of the Allies .

The 6th Marines first moved from their corps reserv epositions to the vicinity of Beaurepaire Farm . On the19th, the second day of the attack, it was not unti l0630 that the leading battalion of the regimentreceived orders to lead the attack that day . The Ger-mans were still desperately attempting to stop the al -lies' drive .

The 6th Marines, under Lieutenant Colonel Harr yLee, advanced on about a 2,500-yard front . The 1s tBattalion, commanded by Major John A . Hughes, wason the left flank; the 2d Battalion, commanded byMajor Thomas Holcomb, was on Hughes' right ; andthe 3d Battalion, commanded by Major Berton W .Sibley, was in reserve . The ground was level, and con-tained no cover except for an occasional wheat field .This attack started in full view of the enemy and wit hinsufficient artillery support . The accompanying tank sslowed the infantry. German artillery and machine gunfire decimated the 6th Marines . Within a half hou rso many men of the 1st and 2d Battalions had bee ncut down it was necessary to commit two companie sfrom the 3d Battalion to fill the ever-widening gap .The losses to the 1st and 2d Battalions averaged mor e

Part of the 3d Platoon, 96th Company, 2d Battalon, 6th Regiment rests at Ronvaux, France .C .B. Cates Papers, MCH C

13


A 1918 Marine command post occupies these dugouts in the Champagne region of France .

than 50 percent . It was almost impossible to evacuat ethe wounded . Cates, now commanding a company ,sent back a scribbled message from an abandone dtrench: ". . . I have only two men left out of my com-pany and 20 out of other companies . . . . I have n oone on my left and only a few on my right . I wil lhold ."2 4

Lee ordered his troops to dig in, and they suffere dfrom enemy artillery fire throughout the next day . Th eregiment was relieved by a French unit that night an dmoved to the rear . The 5th Marines had enjoyed pur-suing a demoralized enemy the first day . The 6th Ma-rines had the bitter experience of trying to overcom ethe enemy with little more than their bare bodies . TheMarines were again cited in French Army Orders .

The 4th Brigade was relieved about midnight o n19 July . It remained in a reserve position still farthe rin the rear . Still in reserve, it remained in that are auntil 31 July . In spite of sleepless nights, long marche sthrough rain and mud, thirst, and heavy casualtie samong friends, the Marines again had met the tes tof combat .

It was during this quiet period that the brigade wa svisited by Franklin D . Roosevelt, the young Assistan tSecretary of the Navy . He had just toured BelleauWood where he was impressed by the splendid wor kof the brigade . He authorized the enlisted Marinesto wear the Marine Corps emblem on the collar of their

Army-issue uniforms (until then a privilege reserve donly for the officers) . 25

On 25 July, Brigadier General John A . Lejeune ,later the Thirteenth Commandant of the MarineCorps, assumed command of the brigade . Colone lWendell C . Neville, later the Fourteenth Comman-dant, took command of the 5th Marines, relievingColonel Logan Feland . General Lejeune retained com-mand until 29 July 1918 when he became command-ing general of the 2d Division . Colonel Neville the nresumed command of the 4th Brigade .

When assuming command of the brigade, Gener-al Lejeune had issued a general order which read :

I have this day assumed command of the 4th Brigade U .S .Marines .

To command this brigade is the highest honor that coul dcome to any man . Its renown is imperishable and the skill ,endurance, and valor of the officers and men have immor-talized its name and that of the Marine Corps . 2e

As recounted above, Lejeune's elation was short -lived, only four days, as he was promoted to majo rgeneral and given command of the 2d Division whe nGeneral Harbord was detached to take command o fthe A .E .F. Services of Supply. (Lejeune had arrived i nFrance earlier expecting to take command of a Ma-rine Division for which Marine Commandant Georg eBarnett was pushing.) However, General Pershin g

14

bluntly refused the idea and ordered Lejeune to tak ecommand of a National Guard brigade .

St. Mihiel

During August 1918 the brigade rested and refit-ted . On 2 September it started to move to position sfor participation in the St . Mihiel offensive througha series of night marches . From 12 to 16 September ,the brigade was engaged in this battle .

The 6th Marines attacked in a column of battalions .The 2d Battalion led the attack with four companie sabreast, followed by the 1st and then the 3d Battal-ion . It was during this attack that the 2d Battalio ndisplayed extraordinary bravery . Some of its membersperformed some of the most outstanding acts of hero -ism seen in the American forces during the war? 7 It

was . 13 September, the second day of the offensive ,

when the 4th Brigade passed through the 3d Brigad ewhich had led the attack the previous day . Comparedto Belleau Wood and Soissons, it was an easy fight .Still, there were 706 fresh Marine casualties when i t

was over. On 20 September the brigade moved to arear area and from there by train in boxcars . Thesewere referred to as "40 and 8s" because they could hol d40 people or eight horses . The Americans beganpreparing for the Meuse-Argonne offensive .

The Meuse-Argonne and Blanc Mont Ridg e

The allies were now at the Hindenberg Line . Thekey terrain feature in the area was Blanc Mont —"White Mountain"—which had been in Germanhands since 1914 . The Marines were to attack it fron-tally with French troops on their right and left .

On 3 October 1918, the 6th Marines attacked a t0555 hours after five minutes' preparation by 200 ar-tillery pieces . They reached their objective by noon ,but the French on their left were two miles behind .

The battle cost the 4th Brigade 2,538 casualties . I tbrought them a third citation in French Army ord-ers . This entitled all units to the Croix de Guerr estreamer for their battle flags . All individual mem-bers were entitled to wear the red and green fourrager eon their left shoulders . A Marshal of France said, "Thetaking of Blanc Mont Ridge is the greatest singl eachievement of the 1918 Campaign ." 28

The 5th and 6th Marines are the only Marine unitswhich rate wearing the fourragere today . It is said t osymbolize a hangman ' s noose with a spike to piercethe heart . It was originally a mark of shame to be wornby cowardly troops to remind them what was in stor eif they ran from the enemy . Naploeon reinstituted i tas a decoration for units distinguishing themselves i n

battle . After years of disuse, it was revived by th eFrench during World War I to be given to individu-als or units cited more than once in official FrenchArmy Orders .

By this time the 2d Division was tired and shor tof men. It was overdue for relief. The 1st Battalion ,6th Marines, which captured Saint Etienne, wa sreduced to a mere handful of men . All of its officers

were killed or wounded . The 3d Battalion, by thi stime reduced to fewer than 300 men, was the last Ma-rine unit to hold a front-line position in the' Cham-pagne sector . It was not relieved until 10 October . TheGermans retreated .

In a post-war snapshot, these little-damaged dirt-covered German bunkers, captured b ymen of the 6th Regiment in World War I, remain intact on Blanc Mont Ridge in France .


15

The 2d Division sector averaged only two kilome-ters in width, and was supported by more than 30 0artillery pieces of various calibers . Also, a companyof 15 light tanks was provided to assist the infantry .The division was supposed to drive a wedge deep i nthe German lines for future exploitation .

The German Army was attempting to withdra wfrom France . It planned to set up a line on the eas tbank of the Meuse River . To do this, strenuous rear-guard action was ordered to delay the Americans . TheGerman morale was broken, they were facing gradua lstarvation, and their fighting power was rapidl ydiminishing .

The artillery fire supporting the Americans was in -tense . The first objective was reached at 0800 . The 2 dBattalion, 5th Marines, and the 3d Battalion, 6th Ma-rines, passed through the front lines and assumed thelead . The second objective was reached about noo nin spite of the heavy belts of barbed wire encountered ,and the enemy artillery and machine gun fire . The2d Battalion, 6th Marines, passed through the 3d Bat-talion and continued the attack .


An unidentified Marine, wearing the Army woole nuniform, with cloth puttees around his legs, sits o na rooftop somewhere in France during World War I.

The 2d Division's infantry units were sent to therear where the depleted ranks of the 4th Brigade wer erefilled by replacements from the 1st Marine Train-ing Regiment .

The Meuse-Argonn e

The 2d Division was assigned to V Corps of the 1stArmy for the final drive . This was to be the centercorps of the 1st Army front . The 2d Division was as -signed the left sector of the Corps, placing this divi-sion in the approximate center of the front .

The attack jumped off on 1 November 1918 . TheMarine Brigade led the division which attacked i ncolumns of brigades . The 5th Marines were on th ebrigade's left with the 6th Marines on the right . Bothattacked in columns of battalions . The 1st Battalio nled the 6th Marines assault, followed by the 3d an dthen the 2d Battalion . The infantry attack started a t0530, preceded by a heavy artillery rolling barrage . Thecolumns of battalions paused at each objective to al -low the next battalion to leapfrog to the front line bat-talion .

By now, all of the Germans' organized positions an da great deal of their artillery had been overrun . Theenemy retreated from his sector during the night . Aline of exploitation about two miles in front of th ethird objective was assigned .

On the third objective the Americans dug in andwaited for the expected counterattack . Instead, th eenemy covered his night withdrawal with the remnant sof several divisions .

The Marines had made an advance against or-ganized resistance at least equal to any made durin gthe war by an American division in a single day. Theywere exhausted . Mud, rain, and sleepless nights madeit all the more difficult . Their food, when they couldget it, consisted of Argentine beef cooked withwhatever vegetables their cooks could find . They calledit "slop." It probably was . Boring, repetitious, bu tnecessary for sustenance . They didn't have the luxuryof "C" rations, "D" rations, "K" rations, or the moder nMRE's (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) .

The 4th Brigade took a day of respite and did no tjoin in the follow-up exploitation . However, duringtheir part in the attack the Marines established thei rfront lines along the Meuse, facing the Germans o nthe other side of the river . The 4th Brigade was the nrelieved by an Army brigade, moved to the rear, an dprepared to force a crossing of the river . This tookawhile due to the utter confusion in the rear with it s

16

poor roads, traffic jams, and supply echelons attempt-ing to catch up with the advancing troops . It was im-possible to even evacuate the sick and wounded . Thecrossing continued to be postponed from day to day .

Finally the orders for the crossing arrived . The in-fantry battalion commanders did not receive their ord-ers until 0500 on the day of the crossing . Their me nwere still in bivouac under the cover of woods behin dthe river . There was confusion as to when the opera-tion was to start . As a result the artillery began firingtheir preparatory fires an hour too soon . Most of th esupporting fire had been delivered before the infan-try even reached the designated crossing sites . Th eArmy engineers were ready to throw two pontoo nbridges across the river . The enemy soon located the mand prevented them from being put into place b yheavy artillery and machine gun fire . German artilleryalso pounded the roads leading to the river . Fortunate-ly, the Marines followed a railroad track leading t otheir crossing site and were not hit . The three battal-ions of the 6th Marines and one of the battalions o fthe 5th Marines were assigned to make the main cross-ing . As dawn approached, the bridges still had no tbeen constructed . The battalion commander agreedthat there was nothing to be done but to withdrawto the cover of woods before daylight arrived .

Once they reached the woods, they learned that the


This elaborately designed and painted sign hung o nan office door of a U. S. Marine occupation force com-pany in Rhinebrohl, Germany, in December 1918 .

This post-war photograph of a chateau which once served as the command post of th e2d Battalion, 6th Regiment, belies the myth that Marines only lived in trenches .


17

armistice had been signed to become effective at 1100 .They were lucky . The war was over without them try-ing to force a crossing against a stubborn enemy .

The news of the armistice was disseminated ratherslowly to front line units of the opposing sides . No-body knew the terms of the armistice—it seemed toogood to be true . Most of the men were exhausted . Af-ter awhile, as the good news penetrated their cons-ciousness, they began building bonfires for warmt hand gathered in groups to talk and sing songs . Thenext night they fired most of their pyrotechnics in joy ,although there was little of the enthusiasm being ex-perienced in the civilian world . The Germans werein a quiet, depressed mood, although thankful it wa sall over . It was 11 November 1918 .

The March to the Rhine and the Occupatio n

On 17 November, the 2d Division began its marc hto the Rhine River .* Through French villages, acros sthe border into Belgium, everywhere the American swere greeted by cheering civilians, dressed in thei rbest, with tears running down their faces . Luxembourgwas reached on 23 November where they were billet-ed in a barn. Marching distances were long, sometime sup to 52 kilometers . Roads were horrible, the weathercold and raining, the food irregular, the packs heavy ,and the sleep spotty in super-ventilated hay barns . TheGerman frontier was finally reached on 25 Novem-ber. A short pause there and on 1 December the marc hpressed on . They reached the Rhine on 10 Decembe r1918 .2 9

Occupation duty quickly became boring . The mos tnoteworthy accomplishment was the establishing ofa Rhine River patrol manned and commanded b yMarines .

Major Charles D . Barrett relieved Lieutenan tColonel Earl H . Ellis as brigade adjutant . Ellis was as -signed to duty as second in command of the 5thMarines .

General Headquarters, American Expeditionar yForces ruled that the Marines serving with the 2d Di -vision were entitled to silver bands on the staffs of theirregimental colors for battle participation in the fol-lowing engagements :

Toulon sector, Verdun, from 15 March to 13 May 191 8Aisne defensive in Chateau Thierry sector, from 31 May to 5 Jun e

191 8Chateau Thierry sector (capture of Hill 142, Bouresches, Bellea u

Wood), from 6 June to July 191 8

*It was not a jaunt . The division marched about 200 miles . I twas cold, raining, and snowing sometimes . The roads were mudd yand slippery . Each man carried 100 pounds of equipment .

Historical Collection MCH C

A soldier's poem decorates the cover of an issue of TheIndian, a weekly magazine published by the Ameri-can 2d Division in Germany during the months of oc-cupation duty after the Armistice. The magazine'sname derived from the division's shoulder patch, it -self derived from a U S. coin then in circulation.

Aisne-Marne (Soissons) offensive, from 18 to 19 July 191 8Marbache sector, near Pont-a-Mousson on the Moselle River, fro m

9 to 16 August 191 8St . Mihiel offensive, in the vicinity of Thiaucourt, Xammes, and

Joulay, from 12 to 16 September 191 8Meuse-Argonne (Champagne) including the capture of Blanc -

Mont Ridge and Saint Etienne, from 1 to 10 October 191 8Meuse-Argonne (including crossing of the Meuse River), fro m

1 to 11 November 1918 30

The Marines, of course, were anxious to retur nhome . In spite of extensive athletic programs, amateu rtheatrical productions, professional entertainers, an deducational programs, occupation duty became moreand more monotonous . Haggling between the Ger-mans and the allies continued at the peace conferenceconcerning the terms of the final document .

The men were anxious to look like Marines again .When first in France they wore their green wool uni-forms. Pershing soon made them switch to Army is -sue uniforms, claiming supply problems and the nee d

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Photographs from the album of Cpl George A. MacGillivray, sitting on the right in thefront row ofthe top photograph taken in Germany in 1919. The photograph shows aworking party from the 80th Company (later Company G), 2d Battalion, 6th Marines .These Marines are wearing a wide variety ofuniform items, including (see third Marin e

from left) a German army belt . Posing for the bottom photograph are the 37 Marinesleft of the approximately 200 original members of the 80th Company. The remainderwere killed or wounded in the various battles in France, and their positions filled wit hreplacements. Standing on the right in the rear row is GySgt Don V Paradis, a wartimevolunteer who always claimed he originally became an NCO because he was bigger tha nanyone else in the company . His valor in France earned him two Silver Stars (precursorsto the modern Silver Star Medal) for his campaign medal . Cpl MacGillivray kneels onthe left of the front row. His son, in another, later war, fought on Guadalcanal .

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to confuse the enemy as to unit designation . Exceptin rear areas, the field hat had to be replaced by th eArmy's soft overseas cap . They didn 't mind wearingthe flat British-style helmets, sometimes adorningthem with Marine emblems . 31 They were suspiciou sof Pershing's reasons from the start . That suspicio nincreased as their fame as fighting men grew .

At last orders were received, and trains began tak-ing Marines to Brest for the voyage home . This start-ed in the middle of July .

The 4th Brigade arrived back in the United State sin early August . It took part in a parade in New YorkCity with the rest of the 2d Division shortly thereafter ,and was reviewed later by President Woodrow Wilso nin Washington, D.C. It then returned to Quantico ,where demobilization began almost immediately.

Marine Achievements

C . B. Cates Papers, MCHC

French sculptor Charles Raphael Peyre"Crusader fo rthe Right" (frequently erroneously called "Iron Mike') ,paid for by donations from World War I Marines sta-tioned in France and Germany, and later erected atQuantico, exemplifies those veterans' view of them -selves and their contributions to victory in the war

Without a doubt, the arrival of the Americans inthe latter stages of World War I bolstered the moral eof the Allies . With the saving of Paris, the capture ofBelleau Wood, and the breaching of the Hindenbur gLine, even the most skeptical of the Allies became con -vinced that the Americans were first-class fightingmen. This was also true of the German Army, partic-ularly in regards to the more experienced America ndivisions. Their intelligence reports at first were con-temptuous, but that opinion gradually changed . Inthe end, the Germans referred to the 2d Division a s"a shock unit''— their highest classification . As ColonelErnest Otto of the German Army said after the wa rin his writings, "The Second Division had answere dthe question, how would the Americans act in real bat -

The star and Indian head design from the insignia of the American 2d Division decoratesone of a number of similar monuments erected by the division soon after the Armistice .


20


These Americans stand in formation after being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross ,the U. S. Army's equivalent of the Navy Cross, at a ceremony in Lutesdorf, Germany afte rthe 11 November 1918 Armistice. Marine units stayed in Europe until August 1919 .

tle?" The rising morale of the allies with the appear-ance of the Americans on the Western Front wasmatched by the corresponding discouragement of theenemy.

The Marine Corps' long stress on rifle marksman -ship paid off in France . The Marines coolly lay in thei rpositions, adjusted rifle slings to their arms, estimat-ed the windage and range, and carefully squeezed offshots from ranges up to 800 yards. The bewilderedGermans sustained casualties and had never seen suc hmarksmanship .

Because of the success of the 2d Division, the Frenchwanted to break up the division and use the Ameri-cans as shock troops to lead their attacks . Lejeune soonlearned about the idea and vigorously opposed it . Thedivision was allowed to remain as a unit .

The Marines, nevertheless, did not hold the mar-ket on valor and fighting ability in the 2d Division .The Army brigades fought and bled equally as much .In fact, other American divisions besides the 2d Di -vision made splendid records and contributed to th eultimate defeat of Germany. Nonetheless, as Armyhistorian S . L . A. Marshall summarized the Marines 'sense of motivation years later in his writings aboutWorld War I, "The Marine Brigade because it wa sunique—a little raft of sea soldiers in an ocean ofarmy—was without doubt the most aggressive bodyof die-hards on the Western Front ." Its losses were 1,51 4killed in action ; 778 dead of wounds ; 8,529 wound -

ed ; 161 carried as missing in action ; and 986 injure dfrom poison gas . The brigade's total casualties, 11,968 ,represented 127 percent of the 9,444 men with whichit first entered combat . Few of the original men sur-vived the war unscathed .

More important in the long run, the Marines' out -standing record in World War I, their sevenfold ex-pansion, close combat against a sophisticated enemy ,high casualty rate, generous publicity, and growingestrangement from the other services erased once an dfor all the image of being nothing but a small organi-zation of ceremonial troops . As we shall see later, th eexperiences gained in World War I and the attack son the Marine Corps after the war (almost causing it sextinction) created an intellectual revolution in th eofficer corps . It was led by Lejeune and the enigmat-ic Pete Ellis, and caused an organizational search fo ra unique mission that highlighted both the newlyproven combat capability ashore and the Marines 'traditional maritime background .

Demobilizatio n

The strength of the Marine Corps increased approx-imately seven and a half times during the war. In ad-dition to performing regular duties such as recruiting ,and officer and enlisted training, it had to guard nava lstations all over the world, and provide detachment sfor sea duty, in France, and other places .

As soon as the armistice was announced on 1 1

21

November 1918, a clamor arose from parents, rela-tives, sweethearts, and families for the early return an ddischarge of all the men serving, whether they ha dbeen in France or not . Members of the Marine CorpsReserve and those of the regular service who had en -listed for the duration of the war caused particular con-cern . A wholesale reduction of the Corps overnigh twould be catastrophic . The 4th and 5th Marin eBrigades were still in Europe under the Army's com-mand . Troops were in far-flung places like Guam . A

solution had to be found .

On 20 November 1918, only nine days after the ar-mistice, Marine Corps Order No . 56 was issued ,providing for at least limited demobilization . It stat-ed that members of the Marine Corps Reserve andthose men of the regular service who had enlisted fo rthe duration of the war, who desired to complete thei reducation or who had urgent family or business in-terests which required their immediate and persona lattention would be demobilized . On 1 May this had

to be modified so that only those with urgent finan-cial dependency reasons could qualify .

Following the issuing of the Act of 11 July 1919 ,which provided funds to sustain a Corps with an en -listed strength of 27,400 men with correspondin gofficers, Marine Corps Order No. 42 of 12 July 191 9promulgated detailed instructions for the establish-ment of demobilization centers and the procedure sto be followed . This order also had special instruction sconcerning duration of the length of service of the war-time men and those serving in the tropics eligible fo rdischarge . By the latter part of December 1919, prac-tically all of those eligible had been discharged .

In August 1919, the 5th Brigade was returned tothe Naval Operating Base, Hampton Roads, Virginia .The 4th Brigade, with the 6th Marines, was alread yin Quantico. The demobilization of these units wa scompleted on 13 August, a remarkably short time 3 2

On that date, 13 August 1919, the 6th Marines wa sdeactivated . So ended the regiment's World War Itour .

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